Inspiration for Christian Living

hardships

This past year, eternity has been on my mind a lot. A close friend of our family was diagnosed with breast cancer, tragedy struck with the loss of an old friend, and I’ve experienced hardships in motherhood and marriage and my own sinful nature.

While I often ask God to remove trials from me and to keep me from pain, I have been molded and shaped the most in the valleys of life.

The valleys are where fruit is produced- not on the mountaintops. God gives me mountaintops for a season to encourage me, but the real work of my faith happen in the valleys- in the everyday, mundane details of life.

Trials and suffering remind me that this earth is not my home, even though sometimes I’d really like for it to be. Trials bring me to my knees in humility. They cause me to confess that God is all I have when life lets me down and when hardships are just too heavy.

At the time, I often hate going through the valleys, but God has used them in my life to keep my focus and perspective on Christ. And somehow on down the road I end up being thankful for them. I’m thankful that God grew me and that I’m not the same person I was.

At the end of the day, none of us are alone in the struggles of life, whatever they might be. Our hope is in Jesus alone and one day, our pain and tears will be no more. We have a great hope awaiting us!

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away. – Revelation 21:4

The song You Hold Me Now has encouraged my faith in so many ways lately. I first heard it during worship at Watermark Church in Dallas and I fell in love with it. It is such a beautiful expression of Revelation 21:4. Here it is played at the gorgeous Hillsong Chapel in Australia.

Well I want to thank you for your emails and comments of encouragement the past few weeks. I strive to be authentic on this blog, and sometimes it’s tempting to ignore the harsher realities of life and just write about well… prettier things!

But I want to be real with you.

The other day on my way home from a busy day at work, the words of an old worship song, Take My Life, randomly popped into my head:

Brokenness (Brokenness) is what I long for
Brokenness (Brokenness) is what I need
Brokenness (Brokenness) is what You want for me

Those words shot straight to the core of me. I need to be broken before God in order to be used by him. I need to be broken so that any pride that exists can slowly fade away. As I sang those words aloud as cars passed by me, I knew God was showing me that this is where he wants me.

To be broken over the things that break his heart. To be broken over my sin and how it affects others. To allow Christ to break me so that I can better reflect his image to the world around me. To be broken enough so that I realize life is just not all about me (something I really struggle with).

I then started to sing the Chorus:

Take my Heart and mold it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours (to Yours) oh, Lord

I’m so thankful that I can give to him my heart, mind, and will so that he can do what he pleases in my life, even if that means quite a bit of brokenness.

It’s definitely been an eventful past few weeks celebrating Easter, dealing with morning sickness, major fatigue, spending time with family, and working out some details with my husband’s school schedule and my work schedule. I have to admit that we’ve had some tough days like never before. The weight has been hard to carry and I just haven’t had it in me to blog, socialize, much less read email, cook, or clean. Yep, it’s that bad. And the main problem is that I haven’t been in the Word for spiritual renewal.

But, I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and my first trimester will be over soon. That’s not to say I won’t be sick after it, but I am praying for renewed strength. I am praying for change.

In a sense, I am thankful for the times I feel like I’m in the fire struggling. For the times I sense God’s discipline in my life. He loves me and is making me the woman he’s called me to be. I pray that I will be more like him in this season of struggle and in the areas he’s refining me in.

I’m curious to know where you’re at right now. What season are you in?

I’ve been asking God a few times today why he chooses to work through trials and why trials make us depend on Him.

I’ve been learning a lot lately about my own comfort levels. And I can’t believe how much I love them. I love a well stocked savings account, a beautifully decorated home, a consistent bed-time, an overflowing pantry and refrigerator, friends that love me, Christmas songs that remind me of childhood and hug my soul, a warm black tea latte, job security, babies that don’t cry, a well-heated car, and the list goes on…

But is that alone what God calls me to?

Yes and No.

He has made all those things. He wants me to enjoy them and to enjoy this life to its fullest. That’s evident all over the book of Ecclesiastes. But, he doesn’t promise that I’ll be comfortable all the time or exempt from trials. And he never said that comfort draws me closer to him.

Suffering and trials do.

Oh, but I don’t want them when they come. It’s so difficult to live by faith!

But I’m learning, in all my imperfections, that it’s not so much about the trial, but about loving and knowing him because He is better than all the comforts the world has to offer.He is the one who fills my soul and deepest longings. And He is all I will have when this life is over, not all the things I try to hold onto.

Well… I guess that’s His answer to my questions. Now it’s time to trust him in this trial!

Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here.

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Gospel Mom Press

Gospel Mom Press is the imprint for Samantha Krieger’s devotional books for moms raising young children in the trenches. Through personal stories and scripture, the mission of Gospel Mom Press is to inspire and encourage all moms to persevere in the sweet and sacrificial calling of motherhood through a transformative relationship with Jesus Christ.